Hello everybody! Like I said, I'm terribly sorry if this is a very common topic; I didn't see any like mine on the front page of this forum, so I'm assuming it's not too much of a n00b-ish question. So right now, I live with my mom, and she has some random knives that she uses all the time. I don't know if they were part of a set or what, but she's had them FOREVER and they're pretty dull. I honestly don't think there's a sharp knife in the bunch. I have no idea what the quality of the blades were originally. My big plan was to buy her some good knives for her birthday (mid-March). Having absolutely no experience in the knife department, I almost bought her that info-mercial Ronco set. Then I googled it and was lead to this website, where I read in another forum that they're total junk. So I'm back to square one. I know I'm not looking to spend a huge chunk of change, but there are three people contributing to this present (maybe four), so as long as I don't break $200 or $250, I think it would be alright. I'm looking for a knife (or knives) that will be good quality, low maintainence, and worthy of everyday kitchen jobs. My mother is no professional chef, but she does cook almost every day; so the low-quality knives are a huge nuisance. What type of knife would you recommend? I read that a chef's knife and paring knife are good for starters, but it doesn't seem like those two alone would get everything done. Of course, I would like suggestions about brands, carbon vs. stainless, etc. I was also looking for some advice about storing them - I read in another thread that storing them all together in a drawer (what she's been doing for the past 15 years) is very bad for them. I read about buying covers of some sort, but I just need to know what to look for. Sorry for the long post, but thank you if you've read this far! I really appreciate any advice you can give me. Thank you in advance. ~Grave